ABP News concluded its highly-acclaimed show, Shikhar Sammelan, on 02 January at The Lalit, New Delhi. The flagship show highlighted various views and discourses on the government, the upcoming Delhi elections, and other national imperatives such as CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act), NRC (National Register of Citizens), NPR (National Population Register) and the happenings in J&K.
The knowledge-sharing platform was attended by the Honourable Home Minister Amit Shah, who gave his first interview of 2020 on ABP News. Various dignitaries from the ruling and opposition parties as well as several renowned journalists attended the conclave and deliberated on pressing national issues.
Addressing the ongoing perplexity on the issue of CAA, Honourable Home Minister Amit Shah said “There is no violation of Article 14(A) of the Indian Constitution. Citizenship is not being given on the basis of religion. Refugees are equally our responsibility and we will treat them with respect. Exploited Muslims have also been given citizenship.”
In making the summit highly informative, Shikhar Sammelan also hosted dignitaries such as Sambit Patra (National Spokesperson – BJP), Abhay Dubey (Congress Spokesperson), Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi (Union Minister of Minority Affairs), Keshav Prasad Maurya (Deputy Chief Minister – Uttar Pradesh), Sudhanshu Trivedi (National Spokesperson – BJP), Gaurav Vallabh (National Spokesperson – Congress), Tarek Fatah (Journalist and Author), Manish Tewari (Former Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting) and Ravi Shankar Prasad (Union Law Minister).
Ensuring perfect coordination amongst the debating dignitaries, the summit was moderated
by versatile anchors of ABP News such as Sumit
Awasthi, Anurag Muskaan, Romana Isar Khan, Rubika Liyaquat, and Shobhna Yadav.
Elaborating on the summit, Avinash Pandey, CEO – ABP News Network, said, “It has always been our prime responsibility to deliver quality content to viewers, ensuring they can act as well-informed, empowered citizens. Accordingly, Shikhar Sammelan was a summit that focused on imparting the correct facts to the public. The conclave saw a wide variety of discussions and analysis of the government’s performance. Our overarching intention is to ensure people are aware of the intricacies of the nation’s pressing issues while making the content more engaging.”
About Shikhar Sammelan
A platform that deliberates on relevant issues of significance to the common people, Shikhar Sammelan provides an opportunity for both the government and opposition to debate on these challenges and outline the way forward.
Key Highlights:
- In his first interview of 2020 on ABP News’ Shikhar Sammelan, Union Home Minister Amit Shah discussed pressing issues such as CAA, NRC, and NPR as well as events in Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand.
- “CAA cannot take away anybody’s citizenship. It is merely a provision for granting citizenship. In the past few months, misconceptions have been spread about the Act and we need to look at CAA and NRC as two different subjects as there is no discussion on NRC yet. There will be a discussion when we bring it in the picture,” said Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
- Sambit Patra (National Spokesperson – BJP) and Abhay Dubey (Congress spokesperson) hotly debated the NRC and CAA issues, wherein Sambit Patra said, “Citizenship Amendment Act will not snatch any Indian’s rights; it has been brought to give rights to persecuted minorities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan.”
- Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said, “Every Indian has the right to criticize me or the Prime Minister and the Home Minister. But at the same time, strict action will be taken against anyone who talks about fragmenting India as a nation. Those opposing CAA should protest by all means but they should keep the doors of dialogue open as CAA has not come through the back door.”
- The summit witnessed a heated debate between Gaurav Vallabh (National Spokesperson – Congress) and Sudhanshu Trivedi (National Spokesperson – BJP) on CAA and NRC, as Gaurav Vallabh said, “Our country is facing the worst unemployment crisis in 45 years. Why did you not think about a national Unemployed Youth Register?” He highlighted the government’s divergent stance on pan-India NRC implementation, which is, therefore, confusing people.
